Jack Finch, 80, of Redlands rides his bicycle along the Orange Blossom Trail in Redlands Thursday, August 4, 2016. Southern California is getting hammered with unhealthful air pollution this summer. Since late May, only five days have been have met the federal health standards for lung-irritating ozone. Compared to last year, unhealthful are up and the worst days are worse.

With eastern and western portions of the Orange Blossom Trail already completed, the city has decided to bridge a gap in the planned 7.5-mile pathway by installing way-finding decals on sidewalks and streets downtown.

“We wanted to make sure the citizens of Redlands and visitors alike knew how to access all parts of the Orange Blossom Trail,” said Ross Wittman, senior project planner with the city’s Municipal Utilities and Engineering Department.

If setting out west from the trailhead near Wabash and Colton avenues, trail users can follow the way-finding decals beginning at Grove Street. From there, the decals will lead trail users south to Citrus Avenue, west through downtown along Citrus and Brookside avenues, then north on Center Street to the other completed portion of the trail at Redlands Boulevard, near Esri.

By the end of the project, 36 decals will be installed. Some already can be seen outside City Hall at Cajon Street and Citrus Avenue.

“It’s a nice touch,” said Councilman Jon Harrison, who has been advocating for the project for years.

Upon completion, the Orange Blossom Trail will offer about 7.5 miles of mostly dual-track trail for pedestrians and bicyclists between Mountain View and Wabash avenues in the city.

The first two phases are complete: Phase One is the 1.3-mile segment between Wabash and Grove; Phase Two is a 1.3-mile segment between Alabama and California streets.

Design of the third phase, a 1.2-mile segment between California Street and Mountain View Avenue, is nearly complete and construction is expected to start this year, Wittman said. The gap between Tennessee to Alabama streets also will be finished, he said.

The trail will eventually link to the Santa Ana River Trail and Parkway, which will run 110 miles from the San Bernardino County National Forest to the Pacific Ocean in Huntington Beach.

“Trails are constantly identified as one of the amenities that people are looking for when trying to figure out where they want to live and where they want to work,” said Harrison, who uses the Orange Blossom Trail himself. “This really is an investment in our future, to have the trail network being developed now and being available on into the future.”

The way-finding decals will help trail users navigate between the two completed trail segments while staff searches for ways to extend the trail through downtown, Wittman said.

At this point, there is no room to extend the trail between Grove and Center, due to the incoming passenger rail service, he said.

Mark Friis, founder of the Inland Empire Biking Alliance, said he has seen the decals, but still hopes to see the trail extend through downtown.

“I think for any successful bike ride you need to go through retail and residential,” said Friis, who said he has ridden the trail dozens of times.

“If you look at the more successful bikeways in the world they go through cities,” he said.

For more information on projects by the Municipal Utilities and Engineering Department, go to its Facebook page.